Latest Painting, as yet untitled

When I first began writing this blog I intended it to showcase my paintings and photos but looking back over the last year I realise I have been neglecting the art content. So here is a pic of a painting I have just finished. I am yet to come up with a title, a task I often despair over!

Its kind of a strange image, as usual full of metaphores but heres kind of what it is about. Lets begin with the hens eggs. Commonly eggs symbolise new life (& resurrection but not in this case) and to me they always remind me of childhood. A hard boiled egg for lunch was common when I was four years old. I always rushed to scoop out the entire content with toast soldiers so that I could turn the empty shell upside-down and set it in front of my Dad when he arrived at the table. Perhaps I fooled him the first time but after that he played along, pretending to be surprised when he cracked open his egg to find it empty!

The Teddy was Troys but I had one just the same as a kid. So here it is in my painting to symbolise the happy but distant memories of childhood, well used and worn by the passing of time.I almost always include a bird in my pictures and in this case the fantail was chosen as it is common, instantly recognised and sets the whole theme as something which has its roots firmly in New Zealand. Not to mention it is well-loved which makes it work when juxtaposed with my final two elements -a dead branch of boxthorn set in an empty glass. A reference to reality. How life that was once happy and innocent suddenly contains sharp and nasty thorns! Its about growing up and dealing with the sinister side of life and realisation of mortality. Perhaps this also has parallels with some of the nasty introduced species of flora (& Fauna) which have ravaged the New Zealand landscape and put an end to the image of an unspoiled paradise.

The empty glass is seen commonly in the Vanitas genre of painting literally meaning that life is empty and meaningless in the end. HELL How did I get so depressing!

Frosty mornings and persimons

Another freezing morning and a beautiful sunny day to follow. Billy the wonder dog doesn't seem to care about frost beneath his paws on one of our morning walks. Last Saturday morning I gave him a bone straight from the freezer which he took out onto the frosty lawn to chew on. I wonder if dogs get ice-cream headaches? Just as well he has a thick fur coat.





One nice thing about winter are the persimons which are in season at the moment. Diced on cornflakes they are yum...... and a favourite winter food source for these waxeyes too. I photographed them in a friends garden recently.



















On a visit to Sullivans lake last week I was enchanted with the number of fantails there. I stood in one spot on the lake edge and counted twelve! On a still day they flit surprisingly close as they feed on airborne bugs. One almost hit me in the head although I think if it had the fantail would have ended up with the worst headache. I was really pleased with this shot of a fantail in the flax as its quite difficult to photograph them with their tail spread. I can't help but be charmed by them, they are so tiny. I once owned a fantail skull - a most fragile little object but it was stolen and eaten by a mouse. I'm still bummed about that.

NZ Falcon hunting starlings

Late last week I had been watching vast numbers of european starlings flocking in the skies above the Whakatane River. They circle in great black clouds before landing in their winter roosts in the park. They have chosen a grove of Karo (a type of pittosporum) that grows in a dense covering on a small curving hill. The miniature railway runs around the back and through a tunnel in the middle of the hill and the stepped seating of the amphitheater creates the curved face. These large roosting colonies occur only in winter in the non-breeding season and is a phenomenon seen on a huge scale in parts of europe. (U-tube has plenty of amazing videos of flocking starlings.)

On Thursday I was walking toward the roosting hill as the sun was sinking, clouds of starlings were squabbling over perches when there was a ripple of alarm among them as a falcon came swooping low over the treetops down toward me before turning to disapear around the back of the hill! Awesome! Its been about two years since I had last seen a falcon in this park and unfortunately that bird had come to a sad end. So I was rapt to see another. The light was fast running out but I was definitely going to be back the next night.






I arrived at the park at about 4.30pm on Friday evening and sat at the top step of the amphitheatre facing toward the setting sun. I'd been there less than a minute when there was the roar of a thousand or so beating wings and a falcon appeared from the tops of the trees to my left and shot just a few feet above my head head to skim above the trees to my right and disapear at a great speed. WOW! A few seconds later and the bird returned and zoomed off back to where he'd come from. Again his flight was marked by a roar of wingbeats from the frightened starlings. What a buzz!






It was a lovely evening and I was content to watch swarms of starlings wash in to land around me in a deafening mix of chirping and wingbeats. One of the flocks I noticed appeared to be flying in a much tighter group forming a dense black cloud over the river. As they got closer I realised they were being chased by a larger bird. I assumed it was a harrier as they were so high up but as they got closer the larger bird disapeared amongst the starlings then all of a sudden it dived straight down at incredible speed then levelled off to zoom toward me. It was of course the falcon and suddenly I had hundreds of starlings flying toward me, I'm desperately trying to get my camera to focus on the bird of prey while my viewfinder registers something like the view from the bridge when the starship enterprise hits warp speed! Whew! And a few moments later the birds have all found their perches for the night (although still squawking loudly about it) the falcon has gone and the sky is lit up a most amazing shade of red and orange. The best show in town and all for free! Haven't been back over the three day weekend but at 4.30pm tomorrow night you know where I'll be.....

Fishing Egret and Fighting Herons!

I'm still waiting for the Kotuku to return to the river. The large white bird that flew over the saltmarsh last week (which I hoped was kotuku but suspected was an egret) was back feeding one morning. Sure enough, he was quite small and had a dark beak - an egret. Just as lovely as kotuku although not as impressive in size and unfortunately much harder to photograph as he is very shy! To get these photos I waited until he had caught himself a nice fat little eel and was distracted by trying to swallow the slippery wriggling meal which is not easy if you are a bird. With his attention on breakfast I snuck down the bank behind some rushes and shot this series of photos as he resumed feeding. The egret has a style of fishing all of its own and is quite entertaining as he flaps about actively chasing fish as opposed to the herons preferred silent stalk approach. The whitefaced herons will use a similar technique to the egrets at times but are usually more regal and dignified in their methods.

On Wednesday I arrived at the river to a most lovely morning, still and calm, sunny but cold. Perfect conditions for photos but there didn't seem to be any interesting birds around at all. Plenty of ducks taking refuge from hunters but I resist shooting (with my camera) both ducks and seagulls as much as I can.

Call it avian snobbery but you can take the best shot in the world of a duck or seagull but at the end of the day they are still just a duck or seagull if you get my drift!!!! ALTHOUGH I did weaken and shoot this photo of a pair of mallards with the excuse that it is a shot just as much about the water and lovely reflections as it is the ducks.

This pair were photographed just behind the skate bowl.

I decided to give up for the day and get to my studio and my painting so headed back to the yacht club where I had parked the car. As I was walking along the stopbank a whitefaced heron flew in from upriver and landed on the flats. Immediately another bird flew in from the rocky point to my right croaking angrily.

In the time I have been photographing these birds I won't go so far as to say I recognise each individually but I have come to know of a few by their habits. There are three or four birds who favour this feeding ground, two are a pair although they don't always feed together. Another is a single male who often challenges the male of the pair and two or three times I have witnessed arial battles between them. Unfortunately I have always been too far away to photograph them scrapping but it appeared that this morning I was finally able to get the opportunity. The heron from upriver was the single male, the one from the point one of a pair.

Battles usually start with body posturing, Both birds drop their wings a little and the long thin feathers on their backs stand semi-erect. They hold their heads up as high as they can, all this posturing in an effort to appear bigger than they truly are. They strut side on to each other for a bit then turn and show their other side as they strut back again like yachts tacking in a race. If neither side backs down then they get closer and closer before finally turning to face each other in a challenge to duel. These two didn't waste much time posturing before they were hard out fighting! Unfortunately I didnt have time to get closer and I was shooting into the sun so my photos arent the best quality but they capture some of the action. There were literally feathers flying although they didn't show up in my images.

After a battle of about five or six seconds the male from the point beat a hasty retreat back to where he had come from, near where my car was parked. I followed and very soon he flew back to again challenge his attacker. I was able to get myself close and in the perfect position to capture another fight, this time with the sun at my back. BUT those bloody birds just did their sailboat impressions cruising up and down with their beaks pointed at the sky for about half an hour!!!! The loser from the first encounter was just not quite game enough to engage in combat and would back off as soon as the first one got too close. Finally he was distracted by a fish flopping about in the water so he grabbed that and used it as an excuse to walk away from the fight.

While the herons use this posture of "heads up as high as they can" to signal aggression, the opposite is used to signal a friendly greeting. The heron pair, after a morning feeding often rest together on the balcony of the yachtclub and when they meet there it is with heads lowered and beaks clapping at the other birds knee height. They croak softly to each other and the feathers on their backs are raised. The sexes are difficult to tell apart unless they are together with the male slightly larger and a little more colour in his plumage.

About a reptile, a rodent and a range of birds

Troy and I had Friday off and we spent the day at home catching up on jobs. It was lovely and sunny and the skink was back in the carport. Troy got this great shot of him. He really likes hanging out in our shoes!


















I was hanging out the washing when I saw Billy the wonderdog sniffing around in the garden. All of a sudden he went into "hunt" mode, his tail stuck straight up and his body was stiff. He was staring into the greenery behind the carport. I thought he may have sniffed out a mouse so I told him to "get dat mouse boy!" All of a sudden he lunged in and came up with a HUGE rat in his mouth!!! Aaaargghhh!!!! He shook it and the rat turned and sunk its teeth into Bills cheek. The poor dog spat out the rat but it was still hanging off his face. The rat was squealing, I was squealing.....After violently shaking his head a number of times the rat let go and tried to make its escape. Bill jumped on it again and finally killed it. I made a fuss of him and gave him two big bones as a reward. He was bleeding a little from a bite mark on his muzzle but he soon forgot his injury after he got his bones! So check out these nasty teeth.










I have been waiting for the return of the Kotuku at the Apanui saltmarsh recently and I thought I had spotted him there last week. But I only saw him flying over into the reeds and when I later checked the photos I wasn't convinced it was the white heron. Instead I think it was the egret whom I have seen feeding at the Awatapu lagoon lately. But I did take some shots of the spoonbills. A pair was circling over head, spooked into the air by a harrier, and I took this photo as they began their descent. They very suddenly half fold in their wings and almost tumble to the ground in a spectacular fashion before regaining composure just before landing. Goofy birds but very interesting to watch.

On Sunday I went for a walk along Thornton beach. There was some spectacular breakers rolling in from way out in the ocean. There was a divine golden sunset and I photographed a couple of stilts in the orange light.

Today Troy had to work late so I was lucky enough to watch the sun set over my favourite spot on the river. It was a still evening and the starlings were flying in large flocks over the saltmarsh before retiring to their roosts. I can't help but think how lucky I am to live in such a wonderful place!

Gothic Arch, Skink and Little Blue Penguins.

My painting "Gothic Arch" is currently being exhibited in Harrisons Gallery, 15th Ave Tauranga. This is part of my Requiem series and is a large painting on shaped hardboard.





























The other day I was surprised to see a little skink on the floor of the carport. He ran under the back steps as I was taking some washing to the line. Later I quietly poked my head out the laundry door to see if he was back, without moving my eyes scanned the area I'd seen him and after a while I observed him observing ME from inside Troys sneaker! (Lousy taste in real estate.)




After re-locating the lame little blue penguin from the Whakatane river boat ramp, I though that would be the last I saw of penguins for a while. So I was surprised to see TWO more penguins fishing around the wharf by the information centre over Easter. One looked as if it had been injured or sick as it was missing patches of feathers but the other one looked in prime condition and has been there for the last two weeks. I have watched it catching fish from between the boats being launched, from between swimming children and dogs and from around the baits of fishermen! He appears healthy and quite happy with his new home so I'm going to let him be and make the most of the photo opportunity he is presenting me with. I expect he will move on sooner or later and head back to the open ocean but in the meantime he is providing the locals with some entertainment, myself included. I just love watching him zooming through the water just beneath the surface with such ease. Magic!

Frogs, Eels, Banded Rails & Spoonbills.

Last Tuesday I was on the stopbank by the skate park and heard frogs. I ventured down the boardwalk to the small pond behind the supermarket carpark and there, on a small log sat the most georgous brownish green frog, very fat and well camouflaged! I took some photos then realised there was another frog sitting on the other end of the log. A lovely green frog with intriguing patterns in its back - a face? I've always loved frogs & as a kid I kept many as pets. Disturbing to hear reports their numbers are in decline due to global warming or pollution so great to find these two!

Another creature I love is the eel and I often see them cruising the edge of the river. I know for a fact the herons love eels also although in a different capacity! I have more than once witnessed a shag or heron pull a young eel out of the water, the bird then faced with the difficulty of trying to swallow its catch while the eel has wrapped itself tightly around the birds bill! Catching them is the easy part - swallowing them presents a whole new set of difficulties.

I was amazed to spot a pair of banded rails down on the mudflat! Very timid birds and I got a couple of pics but only from a distance, they were quick to spot me and ran for cover.

AND the best news of the day was that the spoonbills are back. Well the first pair anyway. The most we had last winter was seven with a usual total of three or four. They arrive at least a month before the Kotuku and stay about a month longer. I am expecting a pair to stay in the area to breed before too long since they have begun to breed in other areas of the country rather than restrict themselves to Okarito. These two looked in wonderful condition with glossy white plumage.

Pacific Reef heron

Last week a couple of Reef Herons moved onto the mudflats. Actually there have been three in total but they are mainly solitary feeders so I have only once seen all three at a time. They are not common birds, their numbers having dropped in the last few decades due to humans encroaching into their nesting habitat (which is rocky coastlines.)

In the past whenever I have tried to photograph Reef Herons they have been exceptionally difficult to approach.

When I saw one last week it was perched on a dead tree surrounded by water on a very high tide. I remember a friend telling me she could get quite close to reef herons when she was on the water in her kayak. I thought it might be worth quietly wading out in the water with my camera. The heron watched me but began preening so very slowly I got closer and closer. Before long the bottom of my 3/4 length pants got perilously close to the water so I wound them up. The closer I got to the bird, the deeper the water became until very soon my pants were well and truly wet. Finally the heron dropped down into the water and began fishing.

By this stage my arms and shoulders were beginning to ache (big lens gets very heavy after a while) but the water was quietly receding so I dropped onto one knee and rested an elbow on it while I got some great shots of the bird in action. He fed very differently from the more common white faced heron, running after fish with wings sometimes outstretched. He was so entertaining I didnt realise my pants were in the tide almost up to my crotch! The bummer about my favourite birdwatching possie is that the stopbank runs right by it and all sorts of people walk past and wonder about this weirdo lurking in the mud up to her privates in the riverwater!

Honky the silly Goose.

Most of my bird photography is done on a small stretch of the Whakatane River above the Yacht Club building, a place called the Apanui Saltmarsh. Its a wonderful spot and the variety of birdlife is constantly surprising me especially considering how close it is to the main shopping centre of Whakatane.

So I spend a bit of time there when the weather, light and tides are right, oh and when there are birds about. (Now and then there aren't any.) Just lately there have been a number of Reef Herons on the river. I have seen at least three different individuals and they are not a bird you generally see often. But this blog is not about Reef Herons. (They will feature in my next blog.) This is about "Honky".

Honky has been a resident of the River here for years and is well known to the locals. He is a big white goose ( actually I'm just assuming his gender, he may be a she for all I know but I suspect he is a gander.) At first impression he appears a benevolent bird, especially cruising along in the early morning light....BUT don't let first impressions fool you. He believes he's the boss of the waterways and at times he is the bane of my life. Typically I am in sneak mode, making my way toward a rare photographic subject such as a Reef Heron or the Kotuku, my camera in hand and focusing on my target when, just as I am almost close enough for a decent shot that bloody goose will honk out a warning that would rival any foghorn! All the birds within a mile radius are alerted to my presence and the cocky little bugger swims up and down in front of me, all puffed up with his own importance.

Last week I stopped in first thing and the light was right, the tide was right, there was everything but the birds. I sat myself down on some driftwood to wait and let Honky get that confounded bugling out of his system. There was a shag feeding not far from me and I aimed my camera at him in the hope he would catch himself an eel or flounder. Suddenly Honky decided the shag was encroaching on his territory and flew at him. I was lucky enough to snap an action shot & apart from cropping the tips of his wings off I thought it made a great photo. Paybacks for all those shots you ruined for me you silly old Goose. Thanks Honky.

Little Blue Penguin in the Whakatane River

Oops, just realised this is my first blog for 2009 and its nearly March already! This summer I've been really busy helping with wedding photography, painting and taking photos of course. Enough with the excuses.....

Earlier on in the month I got a text from my Aunt who was walking along the river edge near the Whakatane Heads. She told me of a penguin swimming near the boat ramp. When I got there I was fascinated to watch a little blue penguin chasing small fish, moving quickly along about an inch or two below the water without breaking the surface. He would get in amongst a school of herrings and then swim tight circles around them until he could snatch one up in his beak. Wonderful to watch in the water! I had to rush off way before I was finished watching him. The Little Blue Penguin, smallest penguin species in the world is quite common around our coastline. The next day I went back and sure enough he was there again. I watched him for a while then he swam to the boat ramp and made his way up the edge but when he began to walk it was obvious things weren't as they should be. He was favouring one leg hardly putting any weight on it and then he just rested while two boats were launched only feet away. I realised he may need medical attention so I grabbed a trout landing net from the back of the car and leaning down off the pier popped it over his head. I took him to the local Department of Conservation office and turned him over to Mike Jones. We checked out the injury to his leg and realised it was not a really recent injury and he appeared to be on the mend. But obviously the boat ramp was not the greatest environment as it was not without a number of risks to a penguin so it was decided he would be relocated out to Motuhora (Whale Island).

One of the local fisherman told me the bird had been seen hanging out in the river for about a week and was even seen up as far as the bridge which is about a mile from the rivermouth. As far as I know he got a ride with the D.O.C. officers in a boat that afternoon. Bon Voyage Little Blue!

Tauranga National Art awards.

Its been a while since my last entry because November was a huge month for me. Things were going really well with my entry for the Tauranga National Art Awards. This was a painting that I was constantly challenging myself with. I put lots of research, thought, and emotion into it and felt that was coming through in the painting. It was an emotionally intense process and when I felt it was finally finished I was very happy with the result. (Most unusual!) I should have known it was too good to be true! When it came to varnishing it I had almost run out of the usual product so tried to get more but my supplier had none in stock so to cut a long story short I went with another varnish that proved far from satisfactory! I tried another product to try to get rid of a series of milky streaks but the two mediums were not compatible so I made it worse! It was ruined! Heres a photo of it before the varnish went on. At this point my mood had hit rock bottom. I was in mourning! And I had a party to organise for Troys Birthday feeling far from in a party mood. Saturday morning I prepared food and fussed around looking forward to being able to have a few wines later on. We had lots of family and friends around, had a lovely meal and then Troy said he wanted to make a speech. He asked me to stand next to him, thanked everyone, waffled on for a bit then went down on one knee and proposed to me!!! I'd had no idea this was coming. Of course I said yes! So that pulled me out of my melancholy over the painting and I went back to the studio on Tuesday mentally accepting that I would have no painting entered in the Tauranga Art Awards. Mum came to see me and spied a half finished piece leaning up in the corner. Always a source of encouragement she suggested I finish that painting for Tauranga.....the only problem was that the next day and day after were the delivery days. I had one day to complete it! I went home Tuesday night, planned the rest of the painting and put in twelve hours work on it onWednesday. I was actually really pleased with how it turned out, I must do well under pressure. We delivered it the next day and four days later I got a phone call to say it had won the Supreme Award!

Now I have commissions and a great Gallery wanting my work so lots of work to do! But as always I can find a few moments each morning to photograph my favourite birds on the saltmarsh. The whitebaiters are gone and the herons are reasserting their territorial boundaries. I took this photo which may appear to be part of an elaborate courtship ritual but is in fact a pair of males challenging each other over feeding grounds. One of them had his female mate nearby but despite this he lost to the bachelor heron. The pair were forced to retreat to the other side of the river to feed. The whole standoff lasted only seconds but I do I love this shot! The victor was the bird on the right with his head held highest.

The swallows have hatched their second brood of babies above my studio entrance which means they are twice as fierce protecting the nest! A day or so ago one of them dive bombed my head three times in quick succession and I actually felt it touch my hair. They screech and snap their beak at the moment of contact - amazing how something so tiny can become such an effective assailant! My hair stands on end and I seek shelter as fast as I can!

The Egret Hunter.

I saw the egret again at Awatapu lagoon but its SO timid. I can't get very close at all and he seems to know I'm stalking him. Its not an easy place to sneak up on him either. I have observed him for long enough now to recognise his feeding patterns so I got ahead of him around the bend and scrambled down a bank hiding in the bushes to wait for him to get there. I thought I'd sit still and quiet and give him 40 minutes. After 3 minutes I noticed a funny smell. After 5 minutes I had bugs crawling up my shirt. After 7 minutes the dampness from the ground had soaked into my jeans. After 9 minutes I got cramp in my leg! Stuff it I thought and started back up the bank and nearly stood on a huge dead rat laying on the ground - so thats what that smell was! I got to the top of the bank to see the egret flying past....BUGGER. So much for the surveillance, I hadn't lasted ten minutes! Thats why all my photos of the egret are of it flying off into the wild blue yonder.

The coot babies at Sullivans lake are growing fast. Another coot family further around the lake haven't been so lucky. One of the babies was killed by a pukeko I've been told. They can be very territorial those pooks. Mind you I've seen the coot parents chase bigger birds away from the nest without any problem pukekos included.

I'm happy to say the coots get better looking as they grow up. A classic case of "ugly duckling syndrome" to be sure.

Gannet, courting fantails.

Today was a public holiday but I needed to finish my entry for the Tauranga Art Awards so I went in to the studio. Town was deserted so I made the most of it and loitered around the public toilets again with my camera, (don't be silly, I was photographing the starlings in the flax again!) But actually I didn't get the perfect shot that I'm after.




















I was looking through some of my recent shots and found these I'd taken of a gannet at the Whakatane Rivermouth. I sat on the rocks for about twenty minutes and watched it diving for fish...they really are impressive doing this!



On Saturday I was trying to get some housework done when I kept getting distracted by a couple of fantails outside. I chased them with the camera for a while while I should have been vaccuuming because they were so amusing. They are dating you see, the male catches bugs which he feeds to the female to prove his worth and to impress her, and perhaps to build her strength up so she can lay the eggs. When he finally wins her over they go steady and nature takes its course. They have probably already started building a nest as I have observed them collecting spiderwebs for a few weeks now.

Flax feeders.

There are lots of lovely little flax plants in the main centre of the Whakatane township and they are all in flower at the moment. The starlings sparrows and waxeyes are all making the most of the nectar supply. Because they are a smaller variety of flax then the smaller birds can reach to the back of the flowers. (Strangely enough I haven't seen any tuis feeding from them. Perhaps they only like the larger type.)

The starlings are so colourful this time of the year in their irridescent plumage that I have been obsessed with capturing the perfect image of them among the lime green and yellow flax flowers. However there are drawbacks to taking photos in an area where there are lots of people. Firstly, you can be focusing on a bird in a bush ten feet in front of you and not realise that the people sitting outside the cafe twenty feet beyond are feeling rather paranoid perhaps wondering if you are a private eye and if so whose photo are you taking! Just as well I'm not a guy or they'd think me a pervert! Speaking of weirdos there was a guy lurking around nearby, studying me and looking rather suspicious. My attention was on a feeding starling when I realised he was right next to me. I looked up and he said "Is that a camera?" Stifling the urge to voice any number of witty replies I just said "Yes." Judging by his eyes he was probably too wasted to tell so I didn't encourage any more conversation!

I really like this little sparrow with his forehead coated in orange pollen. I then realised ALL the sparrows in the area were sporting orange caps. After lurking among the flaxbushes for three days I read in the local paper about four new security cameras installed that very area. I wonder what they'll make of me......

BirdsAplenty Art Exhibition

Its been a busy couple of weeks! I've been flat out finishing paintings for the BirdsAplenty Art Exhibition on at the moment. It opened last Friday 10th October and finishes this Sunday 19th October. This is the 2nd year of the exhibition run in conjunction with the BirdsAplenty festival. Sales are down a little from last year I guess due to the recession but we have had good numbers through, about 200 people so far! This fantail is one of the paintings I have sold from the exhibition so far.
























These next two are from my "Requiem" series that I am working on at the moment. Huia are the main focus and I am working with issues regarding the attitudes that led to their extinction at the hand of man. I think this is the first time I have really concentrated on one theme and the more research I do the more inspired I become so I will be developing these ideas for a while yet I think.


























I went back to check out the coots nest at Sullivans lake a week or so ago. The babies had hatched and I couldn't believe what the chicks looked like! The parent birds are black/dark bluey grey and the chicks come out like little punks with bright red & orange heads - CHECK THIS OUT! Are Coot chicks really cute? Kinda debatable.

Scrapping sparrows & feeding fantails.

I've been photographing sparrows lately as I'm planning a painting that will include about five or six of them. Last weekend I put some birdseed out in my feedstation (an old wheelbarrow) and tried to get some action shots. I wanted to get them flying or fighting as they do often at the feedstation.

Today I photographed our resident pair of fantails which were quite obliging in that they let me get very close although I wish they would keep still a little longer. Later in the afternoon they were flitting around the tops of some tall trees among thick clouds of little sandfly type insects. I got a neat shot of them in the air together but the quality was crap as I had to have the ISO set at 400 with a fast shutter speed. I'm sure they almost had a "head-on" in mid air but their reactions are lightening fast as they dart after bugs etc. I think I'd like to get re-incarnated as a fantail....except I'm not sure about eating bugs. I watched one eat a big fat blowfly today. Yuck! No if I'm going to be re-incarnated as a bird it had better be a seagull so I can hang out in the carpark down the heads and live off scavenged fish and chips!

spring has sprung!

I've been painting feathers for the last week and am suffering sore shoulders and eyes....the down side of painting on a space two inches wide! And the inclement weather has meant I've had little opportunity to take a break with my camera.

Spring is well and truly here with ducklings emerging and birds building nests evrywhere you look. I took the shot of the black swan at McLarens Falls Park a couple of weeks ago. HUGE nest! I was surprised at how close I was able to get despite the aggressive reputation these birds have.

The coot and ducklings are residents of Sullivans Lake in Whakatane.

Three Seals and a Surfer.

Today there were TWO seals sharing Wairakas rock! They appeared to be a male and a female adult in good condition. However a third seal I spotted in the water came ashore to sun itself on the rocky breakwater & this was small and very skinny. I watched a surfer make his way out along the rocks with his board and I knew he was about to come face to face with the young seal. Sure enough he stopped very suddenly and the two of them eyeballed each other for a second or two then much to the surfers relief the seal took off back into the water!

The seals have certainly caused a lot of interest among the locals. A bus load of tourists even turned up while I was there!

The morning fined up and turned out lovely. I snapped these white fronted terns and an oystercatcher before tearing myself away and heading back to the studio.

Northern Giant Petrel?

It turns out the dead whale I photographed yesterday was a baby sperm whale. Perhaps the victim of an orca attack?

I was looking through my photos tonight when I remembered another couple of photos I had taken when we first got to the beach. As we jumped down the sand dune I saw a large dark albatross-like bird flying along above the surf. I only had seconds to snap these two photos and didn't even set my exposures so the quality is pretty bad. I have done a little research and have decided it may be a Northern Giant Petrel. The exterior tube-like nostrils place it in the petrel family and it was a very large bird. I am surprised to see one here in the Bay of Plenty but I suspect it was because of the whale as they commonly feed off dead sea mammals. If anyone can positively identify this bird can you please let me know and I'd love to know how rare (or common) they are around Whakatane.

Of dead whales and sleepy seals.

What a strange day I've had! We were on our way to work when Troy got a text to say there was a whale stranded on Ohope Beach. Of course he had to photograph it for the newspaper so there was no way I was going to miss out. Driving over the hill I was hoping the whale was going to be ok and imagined it being refloated and swimming off through the waves to a happy ending. Bit of a different story when we got there. It wasn't a stranding at all - more like a dead whale being washed up on the beach after floating lifelessly around in the ocean for a couple of weeks.

I'm not certain what kind of whale it was, perhaps a minke. Really interesting lower jaw on the creature, very narrow compared to the width of the head so not sure what it would be eating. Perhaps squid and other fish. It was really stinky downwind. The guys at Dept of Conservation were going to bury it this afternoon. What a job but someone's gotta do it! (Glad I didn't have to dig the hole.)

By the way, the distant Island in my second photo is coincidentally Whale Island.

So that was my morning, observing a rotting whale carcass being rolled around in the ocean! I hope it died of natural causes.

Actually I was back in my studio at ten a.m. so I did get some work done before I picked Troy up at mid-day. He told me something over lunch that I simply could not believe so he took me to see it for myself. Let me explain.

For those of you unfamiliar with my hometown of Whakatane let me introduce you to one of our most recognisable landmarks -"Wairaka" or " the Lady on the Rock." When the Mataatua waka first landed at Whakatane the Maori men set off to explore leaving the women on the beach. The tide came in and the waka or canoe began to float away. It was custom that only the men were able to man the canoe so one of the women,Wairaka called out "Kia Whakatane ake i ahau" which roughly translated meant "let me perform the duties of a man." She then brought the waka back to the beach attaining heroine status in the process. This statue of Wairaka was erected on the rock at the rivermouth in the sixties (I think.) I'm not sure how high the rock is that she stands on but the statue herself must be about seven foot tall.

So check out this next photo.....here is Wairaka in all her bronze glory (complete with seagull accessory) and there at her feet like a little loyal dog is.....a SEAL!!! A bit skinny admittedly but very much alive and it must definitely be fit to have been able to get up there at all. Its not uncommon for seals to come ashore this time of year, the young ones get a bit under the weather and need to rest up a bit especially after stormy weather (and goodness knows we've had enough of that!) BUT whatever possessed this seal to scale such a steep rock......I have no idea. At least it was safe from harrassing dogs & humans so perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea after all!

Apologies for any incorrect spelling or historical inaccuracies with regard to the legend of Wairaka. I have retold the story how I remember it told to me at school many years ago.

Oil slick and Parrot Pie

OK, OK, I admit its been a while since my last blog but thats because I've been having too much fun with my NEW LENS! But more on that later. I had previously had a frustrating couple of weeks really. The weather had been WET and yucky and I'd had little opportunity to get out with my camera. I went down to the Apanui saltmarsh on the 25th August and had seen seven spoonbills, the most I'd ever seen at once. One was feeding and appeared to be making its way toward me by the yacht club but as it got to where the stream runs out into the river it took off back to the others. I wandered along the stopbank and standing above the floodgate I saw why the spoonbill had shied away from the stream - an ugly oilslick was flowing along the watercourse out to the river! I phoned the pollution hotline and left ENVBOP to deal with it. How sickening! Walking back to my car I watched a man who had been sitting on a bench get up and ride off on his bike leaving behind the newspaper he had been reading which subsequently began to blow away in the wind. I stuffed it into a bin thinking of that tosser on the bike and how lucky he was I couldn't catch up or I would have told him what I thought. Some days I feel ashamed to be a human :(

The next day Troy took me into the photo shop to show me a second-hand 35-350mm Canon L series lens and they gave it to me to try out. Whats worse is they said keep it overnight and bring it back tomorrow. I took it down to Awatapu Lagoon and I was kind of impressed then later that night I checked the photos out on my PC and I was REALLY impressed. I got some lovely shots of fantails in the bullrushes and also an excellent shot of a swallow. Check out the detail in the close up of my fantail shot. But the lens cost $1,000 which I didn't have so I went to take it back the next day...."you can pay it off" they said....."No rush"..."We'll give you a trade in on your old lens!".....so I thought BUGGER IT, sold a kidney and that was that!

Tansy from D.O.C. emailed me and told me of a Kaka that has been visiting a Banksia tree in Whakatane so I've spent a couple of mornings stalking him. He is totally unconcerned with the spectators that gather to watch him. Flies in about 7.30 and feeds for about an hour, licking the big yellow banksia flowers like a kid with an icecream then chews his way into one or two of the older cones to eat the seeds. The first morning I was there he flew into a nearby magnolia to check they were edible. Just down the road from the banksia is a large kowhai that overhangs the footpath and it is just dripping with flowers. I've never seen a kowhai so full of flowers and of course the tuis are making the most of the opportunity. I've also been photographing a couple of tuis that feed in the flowering cherries at the rose gardens. They can be very posessive over their trees and swoop down to scare off other tuis, sparrows, bellbirds and I've even see them chase off monarch butterflies (can't see they would eat much.)

Its a great time of the year to photograph birds as they have come through a cold wet winter and are now into the rich spring food supplies which means they are preoccupied with food so you can get close to them as they are feeding. Not to mention that other distraction of spring - finding a mate and breeding! A lot of species get very territorial around this time too so are fighting with other birds over food and females and don't really care about me and my camera getting in their faces.

This morning I was sitting on the deck enjoying the sunshine (AT LAST!!!) when a pair of eastern rosellas landed in one of the trees on the edge of our driveway. I just happened to have my camera in my hand so I was stoked to be able to take advantage of their presence as they are normally quite difficult to approach. Quite beautiful birds - shame they are a pest due to the fact they take over and vigorously defend the food source of many native species. To be honest I have a couple in my freezer that were shot by a friend working in vermin control. Not sure what I'll do with them, a couple of times I've almost mistaken them for a pack of mince in my search for the evening dinner..... Maybe one day I will mistakenly thaw them out and will be faced with a tough decision, rosella risotto or parrot pie???

Fibre & Fleece, Herons, Kotuku, Egret

In the middle of July Opotiki held its wonderful Fibre & Fleece Festival. I'd been working on a large entry for the exhibition called "Life Spiral." It was a collage made up of found natural objects arranged in a large spiral shape composed of over one hundred and thirty separate sections. It had taken months of work and was lots of fun but quite a challenge to collect all the bits. Each arm of the spiral represented a group of different plants or small animals, insects etc. Not many projects require plucking the prickles off a dead hedgehog, pressing different varieties of seaweed or collecting tiny bones from dead birds washed up on the beach! Anyway I was delighted to win the Furnishings and Artwork Section and even more delighted when a lovely lady who was my teacher in primary school bought the finished piece.

I hadn't seen the Kotuku for a while as he hadn't been to the mudflats and even the spoonbills were staying upriver and too far away to photograph. I had taken some nice shots of a pair of white faced herons though and I'd even seen a reef heron on a couple of occasions. He's a very dark bird plus quite shy so very difficult to photograph. Then one day this week Troy texted me to say someone had phoned him at the newspaper to report two white herons at the Awatapu Canal. I thought it unlikely that there were two but went to see and was delighted to find an egret feeding along the bank. This bird is quite a bit smaller than the Kotuku and lacks the fine breeding plumage on its back. Its beak is black where the Kotuku has a yellow beak during the winter, turning black during the breeding season. I got some photos of the egret but the canal is flanked by houses and he was spooked by some kids and dogs. A few days later I went back and there was the Kotuku so I got some lovely pics of him on a branch over the water. It was a stunning morning although I had to scramble over the stopbank and hike through mud, then stalk him through wet grass to get my photographs!

Waxeyes, kingfishers and those damned seagulls.

We have a large cotoneaster tree in our front yard that is full of little red berries...well at least it was full a week or so ago. The waxeyes and blackbirds have been feasting on the berries with great gusto so the tree has been nearly stripped within a matter of days. The waxeyes in particular have descended in great flocks and gobbled them whole - quite a feat for such a tiny bird.

Troy had worked one weekend (he's a photojournalist) and had bought his D200 work camera home with him. On Sunday afternoon I took it out to the tree and got these shots with a Nikon 100-400VR lens and was really pleased with the results. Its just so bloody heavy though! Hurt my shoulder after a while. I'm such a wuss!

I love my Canon camera because its nice and light and fits my small hands but I must admit I have been drooling over the 100-400 image stabilised Canon lens in Laser. Just think what I could do with that... Shame its $3,500!!!

The other day I was at my favourite spot on the river photographing kingfishers. I like to try and snap them as dive for crabs and the odd fish. One kingfisher spotted a big worm on the bank, swooped down and caught it then flew back to his perch on the railing. A seagull spied him there with his big fat worm lunch and decided to steal it for himself... as they do. I caught the action! They disapeared from sight so I don't know who ended up with the prize. Those damn seagulls try to steal food from almost all the birds, I got this shot of a heron getting mugged for a mullet. I don't normally take photos of seagulls, not willingly anyway. You'd be surprised at how many of my photos are ruined by a bloody seagull flying into the middle of my shot! However I did get quite a groovy shot of a seagull drinking out of the fountain outside the Auckland City Art Gallery a few months ago. (Yeah I know - out with my camera in the big smoke and all I can find to photograph is a BIRD and a SEAGULL at that! Obsessive!)

Of Bitterns, Botulism and a Birthday

In Mid-April I got a call from Rosemary Tully at Whakatane Bird Rescue to say she had a bittern that she had rehabilitated and was ready for release at the Nukuhau Saltmarsh. A small crowd of people turned up to watch. Margaret and Stuart Slade told me of a large bittern that they often see there so we all hoped the two would perhaps meet up at a later date and make some little bitterns. The view from the end of the boardwalk out over the marsh was beautiful, the perfect spot for the release. Rosemary plucked a couple of feathers from the bird for Dept. of Conservations DNA records then set it down on the platform where it went into "Stick" mode, doing its best to impersonate a stick. This is when I took heaps of photos so the bittern came to the conclusion that it was fooling no-one and decided to split. It flew a short way before disapearing into the reeds. A happy conclusion for all!

MAY 2008, I have been visiting the Apanui mudflats almost every morning hoping to see the Kotuku. They breed in Okarito in Westland in the South Island over the spring/summer then disperse to spots all around the country in the winter. The spoonbills have been back for a while, I've seen up to five in this spot lately. They make lovely subjects & I've got some nice shots. But they are a bit goofy in comparison to the kotuku.

I arrived at the mudflats one morning at low tide and was checking out the action looking for something to photograph. I walked out onto the mud & saw a large flock of Black-backed gulls which was unusual. I normally see a few individuals but not in large numbers. As I approached the gulls a few let me get very close. It became apparent that three of them so sick that they were unable to walk or fly which put me in a bit of a predicament. I am not a fan of these birds as they prey on the chicks of other birds (dotterels for one.) BUT I couldn't walk away and leave them to die slowly in the sun. After a call to Mike Jones at DOC I found out they were probably suffering from Avian Botulism and there was no chance of recovery. Mike was busy with a kiwi release and most of the other staff were at a funeral which left ME to deal with the situation. Quite by chance I had a large plastic bin in the back of the car so I gingerly picked up the gulls and put them in it. I was surprised at how light they were for such a large bird. They put up no fight. I took them to the "Vets for Pets" clinic in McAlister St and explained the situation to the receptionist who assured me the vet would deal to them as soon as she was finished with her current patient. A lady with a poodle came over to peer into my Box of Birds. "Aaaah" she cooed and went to pat one....Duh! It latched onto her hand in one final defiant gesture..... I tried not to laugh.

My Dad turned 72 on the 24th May and Troy and I took him and Mum to Rotorua to visit Wingspan. My sister Gina and her daughters Nicky and Melissa met us there also. We were treated to the usual stunning flying demos by NZ falcons Ozzie and Ruby and everyone had the chance to have them land on their (gloved) hand. My nieces were especially impressed as was the Birthday Boy! Ten year old Nicky fell in love with "Whisper" the Morepork and asked her Mum if she could get an owl of her own. Gina told her that you can't buy owls but Nicola insisted she would be able to find one on TradeMe. We all had a wonderful afternoon & Dad said it was the BEST Birthday!

Here's one of my latest paintings. Its a dotterel in winter plumage. I had only just finished it when it sold two days later. I felt sorry to see it go as I hadn't finished looking at it which sounds a bit strange but I'm like that with my paintings. I like to look at them for a while to make sure there is nothing that I want to change. It went to a good home so thats good.

These little birds are much more colourful in their breeding plumage when the chest is a lovely rust colour.

Monday 9th JUNE.

HE'S BACK! The Kotuku I mean. I saw him briefly on Friday afternoon but the light was too dim to photograph him. Then this morning I was at the mudflats when he soared past and landed on the Yacht Club railings. He was in the shade so I got a couple of photos then went to warm my frozen fingers on the sunny side of the building. He flew up river to the little creek behind the skate bowl and I got some nice photos but he was a little far away. He couldn't find much to eat so he flew back to the sunny side of the yacht club where I got some great shots of him preening. I was hoping he might fly down to the rocky point to catch mullet but Troy phoned for me to take him home as he has a nasty cold. BUGGER! Oh well, theres always tomorrow!

skylarks nest, hedgehog omelettes.

Heres the picture of the Skylarks nest that I had trouble uploading a couple of days ago. Four beautiful eggs in a cup of dried grass.

Not long after I'd found the nest I made another discovery. A young hedgehog had fallen into our cattlestop at the front gate. I armed myself with a pair of gardening gloves and lifted him out thinking he'd make a great portrait subject. I lined an ice-cream container with dried leaves and grass and placed him in it on his back still tightly curled into a ball. I put my camera on a tripod and waited for him to uncurl. When he opened up I got some great shots, he looked so cute blinking in the sunlight.

Then I had an uncomfortable thought... hedgehogs are actually a pest, preying on the eggs and young of gound-nesting birds just like the skylarks! So if I am to call myself a true conservationist I must dispose of him. BUT HOW? I could drop him in a bucket of water but that would be far too cruel. Besides I think hedgehogs can swim. I could take him to the vet and get him euthanised but that would be too expensive and I'd feel pretty stupid sitting in the waiting room. I could shoot him with a shotgun but that would be far too messy. (Images of jam and toothpicks spring to mind.) I had to come up with another option so I put the hedgehog on the ground and went inside to have a coffee and think about it. When I went back after my coffee lo and behold, the hedgehog was gone!

About a few days later I went back to the skylarks nest and there were two chicks, beautifully camouflaged with feathers that looked like dried grass growing out of their heads. I wondered what happened to the other two eggs...hedgehog omelettes perhaps?